From the Principal
Diana Ellis
On returning to school from my leave, it has been so heartwarming to return and celebrate so many wonderful things that our school has achieved in recent weeks.
Celebrations
Snow skiing
This year we had our first ever Woodend Primary School entry in the Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships. One of our Year 3 students, Summer was our first ever entrant in interschool snow sports and she very successfully qualified for the National finals in the Ski Cross event. A massive achievement considering Summer is competing as a grade 3'er in Division 5 (Grades 3 and 4). What a great effort. Congratulations Summer.
Each team was allocated a school name banner at the opening ceremony and Summer carried it very proudly. Summer had a fantastic couple of days skiing with other students from primary schools across the state. The nationals were to be held this week at Mt Buller, however the participants were informed the event has been cancelled due to poor conditions.
Next year, we hope we can have more entrants from WPS. Thankyou to Summer’s dad Kelvin who registered us as a school in the event.
Raising money for Wildlife
On the weekend some girls from our school decided to act on a concern they have for wildlife, in particular the critically endangered white rhinocerous and they had a cake stall out of the front of I.G.A to raise money. The girls planned the event, personally sought permission from IGA, and with supervision, cooked all of the goodies for the stall. As a result of the stall and the extra donations through their link on the World Wildlife Link, the girls raised over $800.00 to donate to the supporting/saving white rhinos. A great example of passion, commitment and leadership.
Netball Grand finalists
This season, a number of girls from our school and St. Ambrose have played in the U11 Hawks Netball Team. After a highly successful year they recently competed in the grand final in the 2023 RDFNL Junior Netball Competition: 11 & Under Division. The Woodend Hawks played against Lancefield – final score 10 -5 with the Woodend Hawks the winners.
Girls from WPS in this team are Chloe, Edie, Lucinda, and Olivia Gross as well as Daisy who played a few games during the season to help out while other players were away/unwell. Congratulations on this achievement. Next week the girls are hoping to bring the trophy and Premiership flag to assembly.
Student behaviour
From time to time, we hear comments from parents and students that we do not follow up on behaviour issues or students do not get consequences for minor or major behaviour breaches. This is simply not true. For every issue that we aware of, it is followed up by the class teacher, and if required, escalated to leadership for follow up. Our school values, behaviour expectations and behaviour flow chart underpin everything we do. When an issue has occurred, we interview all parties involved and once we have completed a thorough investigation of the events, we then follow up with appropriate consequences including time out of the yard, walking with a teacher on duty and at times, missing out on special events.
Throughout this process, parents are informed and all things are documented. When students are given time out of the yard this is not communicated across the school and local community due to privacy and confidentiality. If you have concerns, or feel that issues have not been resolved or followed up, please come and speak to us and ask us to explain the process that has been followed and we will revise our school behaviour management process with you. Please be mindful that if your child had a time out or other consequences, you potentially would not want that information shared with the school community.
Staff training
Building staff capacity continues to be our priority. This can take the form of external consultants presenting to us, the use of expertise within our own school, or visiting other schools to observe teaching practice. Over the last few weeks our staff have been involved in all of the above methods.
WPS as a host school
A team of staff is continuing their Leading Mathematics course through the academy of teaching. We proudly hosted a team of teachers from across the Macedon Ranges network secondary and primary schools who came to engage in learning walks and observe our teacher practice during Maths sessions.
Early Years Network
Last night we hosted 40 staff from local pre-schools and primary schools across the Macedon Ranges Network. We meet each term to discuss practices in different settings and to build close working partnerships with our early years providers. Over the last two years we have been working closely to see how we can ensure our practices are closely aligned in the hope that we can continue to make the transition smoother for our students starting Foundation. Last night we had 3 key panel members for our question and answer session – Courtney Lawrence, our Literacy Learning Specialist; staff rom Rothschild Early Learning Centre and a DET Speech Pathologist who supports schools in our network.
Last night the focus topic was exploring Literacy practices in the settings across our network. Thank you to Courtney Lawrence who provide a comprehensive explanation of the literacy practices in our school.
A visit to Tylden Primary School
Last week myself and 5 of our staff went to Tylden to view teacher practice in Literacy and Numeracy. The practices we observed where quite different to our practices and upon return prompted a lot of reflection and discussion. Visiting other schools is a powerful way to work with other teachers in our network and evaluate the practices that best support student engagement and improved student outcomes. We would like to publicly acknowledge Tylden Primary School and thank them for inviting us to observe their teachers.
Mental Health – Branching Out
On the evening of September 12 we invite you to come and join us for our next Branching Out Mental Health session. This session will be a follow up session from the one held earlier in the year and will comprise of a panel that will respond during a question and answer session. It is important we continue to make people aware of the issues surrounding mental health and strategies we can use at home and at school to support people with presenting with mental health behaviours.
Cultural Day
Yesterday we had our Māori Cultural Day. Our students had great fun participating in a range of activities with the presenter Ra. Learning the Haka was certainly a highlight as the children loved the big bold movements, the noises and the facial expressions.
Sun Smart
Recently we have had a few queries about when students are required to wear hats. In line with SunSmart, the DET Policy and our SunSmart Policy, students are required to wear hats from mid August until April. This is the time of the year when UV levels are at their highest. Previously we required students to wear hats in Term 4 and Term 1. If you would like a copy of the DET Policy our WPS Policy, please contact the school.
Student safety
Over the last few weeks a number of parents have yet again raised concerns about the daily risks to our students due to a number of parents parking in our driveways . The space behind the top portables and at the main gate at the top of the school are out of bounds for the general public. We currently have staff and students who are in wheelchairs or on crutches or wearing moon boots and these spaces need to be available for those people. The area near the top portables and at the main gate at the top of the school, has a high level of student traffic and it is not suitable for the general public to use these as drop off or parking spaces. I met with a concerned parent this morning and we are looking at forming a sub-committee where we can work with the Shire and Vic Roads, to find solutions to ease traffic congestion. For a number of years, we have been promoting the use of a 'kiss and drop' zone. In the interest of safety for all members of our school community but particularly our students, please use the allocated parking bays along High Street and Buckland Street. If you are late and have trouble finding a park, then I strongly recommend arriving earlier.
P.F.A
Our Parent and Friends Team is such an integral part of our school community. Behind the scenes they have been instrumental in organising and running a number of events lately including the Pie Drive, Movie Nights and the Fathers’ Day Breakfast. We have a wonderful team of about 15 people who meet every month and work to put on events for our students and parents.
It was wonderful to see so many dads and ‘father figures’ in attendance to celebrate the wonderful role they play in shaping our children (see PFA page for pics).
If you are interested in being part of this team, we are always looking for new members. You can support as much or as little of your time as suits your family and work schedule. This might even mean just helping out at a particular event. If you are interested, please contact us.
Uniform
Thank you to the group of parents that washed, sorted and sold the huge mountain of uniform items that have accumulated this year. Again, we urge parents to make sure all items are clearly labelled.
Book Week Awards
At assembly last week Miss Lawrence announced the winners of our Book Week Competitions. Congratulations to those people and a big thankyou to Miss Lawrence for her work in putting up a very eye catching display of many of the great pieces of poetry that had been written by our students.
End of term
The last day of term is next Friday, September 15. Students will be dismissed at 2.30.
Term 4
The first day of Term 4 is On October Monday 4. Please take note that we DO NOT have a curriculum Day on the first day of term.
Curriculum Day
Our curriculum Day is the day before Melbourne Cup Day (06.11.23).
Principal
Diana Ellis